The god in small things

A recently-restored shrine in a 255-year-old deolwadi in Chembur, has put the spotlight back on a socio-cultural space that once served communities in the city well

The din of Chembur's bustling market on DK Sandhu Marg comes to a grinding halt at the gates of Shri Bhulingeshwar Devalay Trust. As one enters the compound, the sounds of raucous hawkers and honking cars are replaced by the serene quiet of the temple complex, punctuated only by the ringing of brass bells within its six shrines, which date back to the 18th century. A few devotees can be seen snaking their way in and out of the shrines, while others soak in the silence of the place.

Centuries ago, the premises served as a meeting point for members of the Somvanshi Kshatriya Pathare (SKP) community, who lived in the nearby villages abutting the salt-pan lands of Chembur, says conservation architect Rahul Chemburkar. "It was a socio-cultural oasis."

Conservation architect and heritage enthusiast Rahul Chemburkar (left) and Subhash Mhatre, secretary of the trust, outside the recently-restored shrine of Lord Hanuman.

The deolwadi, as it is known, continues to have pride of place in the eastern suburb. Today, it enjoys footfalls from devotees as diverse as Tamilians, Punjabis and Sindhis, who reside in the area. But, it got its biggest boost when, around five years ago, the BMC included the complex in its heritage list. The recently restored Hanuman shrine, inside the main temple, is just the beginning of its conservation story.

As good as old

Chemburkar, who grew up in the vicinity, remembers spending a significant part of his childhood at the deolwadi. "I would come here with my parents or grandparents, or would just drop by in the evenings, while on my way home. It was like a 'katta' where people would spend time together,"he recalls. "More than a religious site, I saw it as a community space."

As the rest of the suburb started getting a facelift, Chemburkar, a heritage enthusiast, felt the urgency to preserve the deolwadi, which overlooks the monorail station.

The restored deepmala  at the deolwadi in Chembur

The temples inside the complex are humble structures of stone and wood, boasting of a sanctum, also known as the garb griha, where the idols are placed, and a common assembly hall or the sabha mandap for the devotees. Coastal architecture aesthetics, which include sloping roofs and Mangalore tiles, inform its design.

According to the records of the trusts, the land for the shrines was donated by a devotee named Krishnaji Arjun Somvanshi in 1764. "The temples were built over a period of time,"adds Subhash Mhatre, secretary of the trust, which was started in 1994.

After the trust—on Chemburkar's suggestion—got the BMC to add the temple in its heritage roster, work on restoring the first shrine began in late 2017. "The moment you give a structure 'heritage status', people assume that it becomes a liability. But, I see heritage as an opportunity, which doesn't stop development, but adds value to it,"says Chemburkar, who offered his services as architect to the trust.

The value-addition to the restoration was the stained glass on the wooden framework behind the Lord Hanuman Shrine

The Hanuman shrine sits in the same temple as Lord Ram and Someshwar. "This particular shrine was in bad shape,"says Chemburkar. "The roof had been replaced with a tin shed, ruining its original character. Some incongruous additions had also been made to the wall, like additional concrete layer, due to which the core of the structure had been lost,"he says.

To begin with, Chemburkar got his team to "peel off all the concrete and expose the main structure". "If you see the shape of the shrine, it is not elaborate—it is a simple, vaulted roof with an arched entrance, as seen in many wayside shrines in villages and country-sides,"he says.

Natural stone was used to clad the exterior 

Chemburkar decided to retain its minimalist style, while making minor additions. "We used lime plaster to enhance the arched entrance and facade."During the repairs, traces of interlocked tiles similar to the country-tiled cornice seen in traditional Goan roofs, were found. Taking cue from it, Chemburkar recreated a unique cornice below the vaulted roof.

Additional concrete layer on the vaulted roof of the main facade had destroyed its original character

He didn't tamper much with the sanctum, except for using glazed tiles—they are easy to maintain, especially because oil is smeared here—and washing the paint from the wooden doors, and adding antique fixtures to them. While the exterior of the shrine was clad with natural stone and the floor with kadappa (black stone), the tin roof was replaced with timber to give it a quaint feel. The interesting add-on, however, is the stained-glass on the wooden framework. "Heritage restoration doesn't need to be rigid. The elements have to come together like a composition. When you speak of urban and community spaces, you have to be open to experimentation. If you see the stained-glass we have used, it's not like the ones you find in churches, which have a lot of iconography. This is just coloured glass, used as a filler element,"he explains. The trust pooled in around Rs 35 lakh to restore the site.

Apart from this, he also restored the 12-foot-tall deepmala, which sits inside the premises. "We had to remove incongruous layers of oil paint by cleaning it with water, to reveal the original stone surface. This also allows the stone to breathe. After this, we used a technique involving paper pulp, to get rid of any excess salts and impurities."

After "peeling off all the concrete," Chemburkar used lime plaster to enhance the roof. He also recreated a traditional cornice below the vaulted roof

The visitors, he says, have responded positively to the efforts. "They were surprised that this could be done. In Chembur, at least, this is a first-of-its-kind effort to restore our cultural heritage," says Chemburkar, adding that spaces like deolwadis are suffering due to neglect and ignorance. Chemburkar, along with the trust, is now planning to restore the remaining shrines in a phased manner. "We want to ensure that it's done systematically, because we don't want to compromise on the material."

Preserving deolwadis

Anita Rane-Kothare, who heads the department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology at St Xavier's College, describes deolwadis, as a "social meeting ground". "In earlier times, when communities migrated to cities and settled around different areas, the temple became that source of communicating with each other."Deolwadi, she says, is a Maharashtrian term, to describe a cluster of temples of various gods that would be housed in the same premises, and which would be owned by one specific community, family or trust. It was in the nature of a deolwadi to also have a sprawling courtyard, water tank, charity homes, schools and agricultural land, to help benefit members of the community, thus, making it a self-sufficient unit.

With spaces in the city shrinking, deolwadis are also struggling to keep up with the times. At Thakurdwar, the 150-year-old Zaoba Ram Mandir, which belongs to the Zaoba family from the Pathare Prabhu community, is one such deolwadi that has continued to resist government intervention. The premises used to house a tank that supplied water to the surrounding areas, says Kothare.

The Zaoba Ram Mandir in Thakurdwar is also situated in a deolwadi

However, after a cholera outbreak, the British got rid of the tank. With the undergound Metro 3 (from Colaba to Seepz) being constructed right below it, a building that was used to house members of the community had to be demolished.

Similarly, the 19th- century Shri Bhavani Shankar Mandir, run by philanthropist Jaganath Shunkerseth's family, and which Chemburkar himself had restored in 1998, once had a dharamshala in its premises, where the Mangeshkar family is said to have spent considerable time, when they first moved to the city. The temple complex today has two shrines, but the semblance of community life is missing. "There is a need to preserve spaces like these, because it brings communities together," says Kothare.

Chemburkar adds, "As a city we are definitely growing, but we need to find a balance, and ensure we retain something of the old for our future generations, because it tells us a story of who we are and how we came here."

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